| November 2, 2002
DECORAH, IOWA . . . Wartburg College
repeated as Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Women’s
and Men’s Cross Country Champions with victories at the 2002 Championship
on Saturday at Luther College. Wartburg’s Missy Buttry (Shenandoah,
Iowa/Shenandoah HS) and Loras College’s Marcus Murphy
(Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny HS) captured the women’s and men’s individual
titles, both setting Conference records and also earning Most Valuable
Runner honors.
Buttry won for the fifth time in as many races
this season, finishing the 5,000-meter race in 16:35.0, breaking
the Conference record of 17:24 set by former Luther standout Johanna
Olson in 2000. Buttry finished 1:57 ahead of Coe College’s
Tiffany Foster (Tripoli, Iowa/Tripoli HS) who finished
second in 18:31.9.
Murphy captured his third consecutive IIAC title,
finishing in 25:06.6 and breaking the Conference 8,000-meter record
of 25:24, which he set at the 2001 Championship. Murphy finished
nearly 30 seconds ahead of Wartburg’s Joe Hughes (Tama,
Iowa/South Tama HS), who finished second in 25:36.1.
On the women’s side, Wartburg won its second straight
Conference title and eighth since 1991 with a score of 30. The Knights’
placed seven runners in the top-20 including Buttry, Gretchen
Graham (4th, 18:38.9), Jannae Holubar (5th,
18:44.8), Jenni Janssen (9th, 19:09.0) and Beth
Neal (11th, 19:18.9). Lacey Leinbaugh (19:19.2)
and Tara Bruck (19:38.0) finished 12th and 19th,
respectively but did not count towards the team score.
Luther (64 points) received a sixth place finish
from Emily Klein (18:50.0), a 10th place finish
from Krista Nelson (19:15.1) and a 13th place finish
from Natalie Retrum (19:19.6) to pace its second
place finish. Coe (103 points) used top-10 finishes from Foster
and Jenna Boerboom (7th, 19:06.9) to edge Loras
for third place. The Duhawks finished with 115 points led by a third
place finish from Amy Scheuerell (18:32.2).
On the men’s side, Wartburg won its fifth straight
Conference title with 22 points as all seven runners finished in
the top-10. In addition to Hughes’ second place finish, the Knights
received a third place finish from Tyson Keith (25:52.4),
a fourth place finish from Josh Moen (25:53.4),
a sixth place finish from Jeff Davis (26:09.9)
and a seventh place finish from Tate Behning (26:11.2).
Nick Betts (26:30.7) and Noah Wendland
(26:35.3) finished ninth and 10th, respectively but did not count
towards the team score.
Loras, behind Murphy and Jason Flogel’s
fifth place finish (26:03.1) took home second place with
59 points followed by Luther with 80 points. Adam Bohach
(8th, 26:20.1), Charlie Burnham (12th,
26:40.2) and Scott Striegel (13th, 26:46.7) were
the Norse's top finishers.
The top-15 runners on both the women’s and men’s
side earn All-Conference honors. On the women’s side, Wartburg had
six All-Conference runners followed by Luther with three and Coe
with two. Buena Vista, Central, Cornell and Loras each had one All-Conference
runner. On the men’s side, Wartburg had seven All-Conference runners
followed by Luther with three and Loras with two. Central, Simpson
and Upper Iowa each had one All-Conference runner.
Wartburg College Head Coach Steve Johnson
was named IIAC Coach of the Year for both the men and women. It
marks the fifth consecutive season and sixth time overall that he
has earned IIAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. The Women’s
Coach of the Year honor is Johnson’s second straight and tenth overall.
Complete Results Men/Women
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